The refining industry experiences volatility in areas such as crude supply and demand fluctuations, product availability and pricing, and refining margins. Refiners must, therefore, optimize the refining process in the face of limited crude supply to produce product or otherwise increase profitability. A refiner or planner, generally, can create a plan which identifies a potential refining margin that will allow the refiner to take advantage of a wide variety of crude materials while still aiming to meet product demand. A poor plan, however, can cause sub-par refinery performance and lower product margins, whereas a high-quality plan will result in optimal performance and larger product returns. Refinery reactors are complex unit operations, however, and unforeseen circumstances can turn a high-quality plan into a poor plan.